Forget Santa — These Gluten-Free Cookie Recipes Are All For You

My partner Nick has celiac disease, meaning we are a gluten-free household. There are plenty of foods we can enjoy just the same — fruits, veggies, meats and dairy products, for example. Breads and baked goods, however, pose a problem.

But living gluten-free does not mean you have to deny your sweet tooth. In fact, Nick and I have come up with some incredibly delicious gluten-free cookie recipes that we love to make around the holidays. You know, for Santa — or for me — to eat for breakfast.

Our first gluten-free cookie recipe is the classic chocolate chip, but being a peanut-butter gourmand, I am also quite fond of our peanut-butter-cookie recipe. And because they are both homemade, they are significantly cheaper than what you will find in a gluten-free bakery.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

Photo courtesy of Timothy Moore

This recipe is so delicious you would never guess it’s gluten-free. I prefer my chocolate chip cookies gooey, so I tend to underbake these, but Nick is quite the opposite — so I can vouch they are also good crispy.

Like with our peanut butter cookies below, this recipe is heavier on brown sugar than it is granulated sugar. The recipe calls for 1 ½ cups of it, which gives it a nice brown color and the warm molasses taste every good chocolate chip cookie should have.

This recipe makes 30 to 40 cookies.

Ingredients

2 ¼ cups gluten-free flour blend: $2.40

1 teaspoon baking powder: 3 cents

1 teaspoon baking soda: 1 cent

1 ½ teaspoons salt: 1 cent

1 ½ cups brown sugar: 65 cents

½ cup sugar: 12 cents

1 cup unsalted butter, softened: $1.70

2 eggs, beaten: 30 cents

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract: 57 cents

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips: $2.29

Total Cost: $8.08

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, mix together the softened butter and the sugars. As you mix, add in the eggs and vanilla extract and continue to mix until blended.

In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Pour into the sugar mixture and combine all together. Mix in the chocolate chips last.

Roll the dough into plum-sized balls and place on a cookie sheet two inches apart. The mixture typically fills three cookie sheets.

One at a time, place the cookie sheets in the oven for seven to 10 minutes. At seven minutes, the cookies will stay soft after cooling and might break apart when dipping into milk (which, in my opinion, is the perfect cookie consistency). Leaving in for eight or nine minutes should harden them up enough, and 10 minutes will get them nice and crispy.

Let cool for 10 minutes before eating. (But you should probably eat one just a minute or two after pulling them out of the oven. I’ve learned that burning the roof of my mouth is worth it.)

Place the next tray in and repeat. My favorite way to eat these cookies is in a giant bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Flourless Gluten-Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Photo courtesy of Timothy Moore

What I love about these cookies is how simple it is to make them (no gluten-free flour necessary!) and how strong the peanut butter taste is. The recipe calls for just five ingredients and can be whipped up in 15 minutes.

Nick and I always use natural peanut butter (just peanuts and salt). The recipe calls for enough sugar as it is, so using natural peanut butter keeps it from going overboard on the sweet side.

We have toyed with the ratio of brown sugar to regular sugar, as long as the total amount equals one cup. Our favorite ratio is the one used below, but you can adjust to your liking.

Makes 15 to 20 cookies.

Ingredients

1 cup natural peanut butter: $1.40

⅓ cup sugar: 8 cents

⅔ cup brown sugar: 29 cents

1 teaspoon vanilla extract: 38 cents

1 egg, beaten: 15 cents

Total Cost: $2.30

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until peanut butter becomes a grainy mixture.

Roll the dough into small balls, roughly the size of a plum, and place them on a greased cookie sheet. Space them out roughly one inch apart. If you decide to make your cookies larger, provide more space between each. You should have roughly 15 to 20 balls. Nick and I typically use two sheets and bake them one at a time.

Press the cookies down with a fork. Place the first tray in the oven on the center rack for six to eight minutes. Six minutes will get you gooier cookies with a hint of soft peanut butter on the inside, and eight will give you a firmer crunch.

Remove cookies from the oven and let cool. Place the next tray in and repeat.

Like most peanut butter-based dishes, these cookies are best served with a cold glass of milk.

Timothy Moore is a writer and editor in Nashville who loves to eat. In fact, he’s been doing it since the day he was born. His favorite foods are burgers, peanut butter, mashed potatoes, ice cream, sour cream and jalapeños — but never all together.

Nicholas Kreider is an interior design and décor small-business owner who sometimes swaps his paintbrush for a spatula. Despite having celiac disease, Nick has a recipe for everything, but he can usually be found making something with Tim’s favorite foods.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.